This movie is, as best I can say, full of heart, dry wit, drama, and great acting. The plot centers around a seventeen year-old kid named Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) who has been kicked out of every private school in his area. His mother (Hope Davis), who adds incredible comedy and soul to Charlie's story, then sends him to public school.
At first, Charlie is rejected as a genuine weirdo. Eventually, as he always has done in the past, Charlie finds a way in to the hearts and minds of his peers: medication. Setting up his 'office' in the boys' restroom, he gives out prescription drugs, but also what can only be called 'life advice' to anyone who lines up outside for help.
So many scenes of the film are just genuinely hilarious and charming: Charlie running through the streets high on Ritalin; Charlie in his jacket and boxers, above a raging party that halted to listen to him shout "My name is Charlie Bartlett and I am no longer a virgin!"; or perhaps, my favorite, Kar Dennings' simply splendid, slow solo of "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out" by Cat Stevens.
Like so many indie movies, I label this one as 'fickle.' You think you know what it's about, but really, there's thirty different angles. It could be about the struggle of the teenager who just wants someone to listen. Or maybe about how, like Downey says, "what you do in this life matters." Or maybe how you need to just do whatever it is that you want to do and be whatever it is that you want to be
The best part of the movie is easily the way that it shows so clearly the life of the modern teen. And I would know, as I am a teen at this precise moment. But, to me, the second best part was Anton Yelchin-- or really Charlie. Charlie charms everyone from cheerleaders, to the principal who disliked him for most of the film, to the cop that arrested him for assault. And he will certainly charm you.
At first, Charlie is rejected as a genuine weirdo. Eventually, as he always has done in the past, Charlie finds a way in to the hearts and minds of his peers: medication. Setting up his 'office' in the boys' restroom, he gives out prescription drugs, but also what can only be called 'life advice' to anyone who lines up outside for help.
So many scenes of the film are just genuinely hilarious and charming: Charlie running through the streets high on Ritalin; Charlie in his jacket and boxers, above a raging party that halted to listen to him shout "My name is Charlie Bartlett and I am no longer a virgin!"; or perhaps, my favorite, Kar Dennings' simply splendid, slow solo of "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out" by Cat Stevens.
Like so many indie movies, I label this one as 'fickle.' You think you know what it's about, but really, there's thirty different angles. It could be about the struggle of the teenager who just wants someone to listen. Or maybe about how, like Downey says, "what you do in this life matters." Or maybe how you need to just do whatever it is that you want to do and be whatever it is that you want to be
The best part of the movie is easily the way that it shows so clearly the life of the modern teen. And I would know, as I am a teen at this precise moment. But, to me, the second best part was Anton Yelchin-- or really Charlie. Charlie charms everyone from cheerleaders, to the principal who disliked him for most of the film, to the cop that arrested him for assault. And he will certainly charm you.
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